What is it with all these revisionist fairy tales about DCE.
Lets get a few things straight. It was DCE and Foran's combination which was the X factor Manly needed that won them the 2011 premiership. Without them, even despite the fine players they had, I doubt Manly would have made the G/F. He won the Clive Churchill Award in the 2012 G/F after a strong season. He continued to play well through 2013 and 2014, winning the Dally M award for the best Half back in 2014. He's played 11 tests and 6 State of Origins.
In 2015, Manly was faced with the dilemma of having back end contracts on a couple of their older stars and two top line halves which everyone was desperate to keep at Manly and numerous clubs were circling. DCE, I understand, was prepared to sign on for 3 more years at reportedly $700,000. He stated he wanted to stay and was close to signing when the Management withdrew the offer, because they decided Foran was the priority (boy did they get that wrong).
Several sides sought DCE's name the the Titans offered a fortune, and considered they had achieved a major coup for the club, given DCE performances in the previous 4 years (not 1 year). DCE, like Buhrer, like Kite, like Ballin, said he wanted to stay at Manly. His wife and her family are northern beaches people.
Not surprisingly DCE's and Foran's performance's along with most of the team dropped that year with all the turmoil, especially over Toovey. Foran opted for Parramatta (his choice) and suddenly Manly were without either of their young stars. Fulton managed to offer a huge contract at Penn's behest and DCE broke his Titan's contract, not only because of the offer, but because he didnt want to leave in the first place. What did we expect him to do? Break a contract for very big money and other goodies, to come back to Manly for less and face all the Media rubbish he had to face. Everyone seemed happy at Manly back then that he was back, the only positive that year.
Then the disastrous 2016 season for many reasons, the least being DCE's performances. And we keep forgetting he had an ankle injury that kept him out for part of the season and probably was still causing him problems, throughout the season, and may still be causing a little discomfort. Tom Trbojevic, a brilliant prospect, recently signed a contract for at least $750,000 per year and probably more according to some sources. He's never played a test, a SOO, never won a Dally award. Yet his income is not much less than 3/4 of DCE's wage. Full backs are essential, but halfbacks run the show.
Now Tom didnt play up to expectations last year either because of an ankle injury, but we didnt put him down. He's played some good football in patches so far this year, but so has DCE. DCE also had ankle problems and he has a lot more responsibility in the middle of the field than Tom. So why are we giving it to a player who was prepared to cop big criticism to break a contract to come back to Manly. He's been loyal to Manly from the start. And despite the problems he may have had with some older players, there have been no negative reports about him away from the game.
Fair dinkum. We are damned fortunate to have DCE. His form will pick up when the rest of the team start to act like a unit. He's shown before injury and all these problems Manly have been having, that he is one of the best halves in the game. I think he deserves a little more respect from the Manly faithful
...and no I dont know him personally, am not related, and dont have him as a pin up boy. I just believe in fair play.
